At Your Request: The Church Baby Gift List!

It has come to my attention that there are some dear ones in the United States that are inquiring about buying us gifts for Baby Church. This is a very humbling thing to discover as we often feel so distant from all of you and are so encouraged by your thoughtfulness! Unfortunately, there is not an easy way to relieve this desire since we won’t be visiting the States until winter, thus taking away the possibility of a shower. BUT, what we have done is we’ve made a baby registry at amazon.co.uk, which anyone can browse through and buy from regardless of location. It will then ship directly to our address here in Scotland.

If you are intimidated by such things (i.e. using amazon, shopping on the internet, etc), let me give you a few options:

Option 1:

Go to amazon.co.uk

Roll your mouse over the little arrow to the right of the ‘Gifts & Wish Lists’ option towards the top of the page.

Type my name (Corrie Church) into the box to find the list, click the ‘go’ button, and viola!

The beauty of Amazon is that you don’t have to buy at the price listed. You will almost always see a ‘used and new’ or just ‘new’ option with an equal or lower price you can opt for.

You can use American credit cards/addresses, as well as UK cards, so (hopefully) there will be no problem with our international situation! :)


Option 2:

Alternatively, you can just click this link…

Church Baby Wish List


Option 3:

Or use the button in the sidebar over to the right to get yourself to the list. It looks like this..

Happy Birthday to You!

So Ian’s birthday was actually on June 9th. Don’t be fooled by the date of this post.. He has officially spent his last days as a 25 year old and moved on to the world of the 26ers. He feels old. Mostly I just try to tease him about it while I can.. I know my time is coming :) In all seriousness though, we truly felt like we were celebrating with so much gratitude for all the Lord has taken Ian through in the last year. It has been amazing to watch how many doors the Lord has opened for Ian to be a strong, intelligent, gentle witness for Christ in the Philosophy Dept. here. From what I can tell, they don’t encounter a lot of people that take their faith quite so seriously in the way it affects their philosophy. He has met quite a bit of resistance and struggled to gain the respect of his peers and professors, but the Lord has seen him through and I believe Ian’s being here really is making a way for future Christian philosophers. It is very exciting and humbling, even to be watching from the sidelines :)

Ok, seriousness aside.. He got very special things on his birthday.. like surprise fudge donuts with grapes for breakfast in bed and his favorite dinner (chicken enchiladas). AND he got a very nice bottle of wine from his wifey (because her other plans didn’t work, so rather than a fixed watch and a semi-nice bottle of wine, he got a still broken watch and a very nice bottle of wine :) that he is saving for a special occasion sometime next year or something. I’m not sure. He knows about these things and says it’s better to let that kind sit for a while. I just go with it.

We planned a little get-together with a group of friends on the weekend and it was a really nice time to hang out with people. We had a small spread of food that most definitely included… Cookie Monster!

He was especially loco this year :) I had several people tell me I should market myself as a specialty cake maker.. the only thing they didn’t consider was that cookie monster is all I have ever made. Oh, and the whole working from home thing I already do. Oh, and that whole baby thing that’s about to happen. But maybe someday! Because I would love to make cakes for people :) And make them bouquets of flowers. And plan their weddings. Wouldn’t that be fun??

Anyway, here is the birthday boy gleaming with his cake in the background..

And, a birthday wouldn’t be complete without a picture of us together!

Yay! We love being together! Oh, and you probably wouldn’t notice this, but see how I’m down to just a wedding band?? Yeah, I can’t keep the purdy one with a diamond in it on my finger before it gets stuck there for good.. Things are a little puffy around here. I sure do miss it though! I mean, it is my best friend and all.. Just kidding hubby! :)

And finally, I will leave you with a picture of this lovely flower. I got the itch to get some flowers for our window box again this year, so we picked out these!

They are called Fuschia and have been absolutely lovely! It’s really fun to watch the buds get big and heavy and then eventually just kind of fall open into these beautiful little alien flowers :) I love summertime!

Summer Visitors – Take One

My parents came for a visit at the end of May.. You may be wondering what we did, but the real question is what didn’t we do :) In thinking about their arrival, Ian and I thought it might be fun to take them to the West Coast of Scotland since none of us (except Ian) had ever been over there. They said, ‘You just plan it and we’ll come along for the ride.’ That was their first mistake! Only in retrospect did I realize that the amount of driving and time for sleep I had allowed for were a little misguided.. but hey, you only live once right? Might as well live in a groggy state of adventure!

So they got here and we gave them one day to relax before the road trip. We visited the local fruit farm only to have my hopes for strawberry shortcakes dashed since there is no PYO this year. But we did get to see lots of animals, including a very pregnant pig who ended up having 12 piglets about 2 weeks late. It made me grateful that I am only having one piglet to see her in such a state!

mama pig

The next day we took off (at 5am) for our Three Isles Excursion! We left from Oban on the west coast, took a boat over to the Isle of Mull where we loaded on a bus for a driving tour…

a view from the boat

the island was beautiful, even on a grey day!

Then we loaded on to another boat to go visit the Isle of Staffa..

Fingal Cave

A view from the Isle cliffs

Then back on the boat to go visit the Isle of Iona..

Some of the ruins in front of Iona Abbey

A chapel with the Abbey in the Background



The next day we headed off for the Isle of Skye just to enjoy the sites there. On our way over we spotted a brief but lovely break in the cloud cover..

And we stopped for a visit to Eilean Donan Castle. It was very interesting as it is still privately owned and used by a local family. Lots of history and family trees on the inside!



We spent the night on Skye and then spent the next day driving around to see all we could see! We hiked and got this lovely view..



And then we stopped to see the waterfall at Kilt Rock



And we stopped to visit the Dunvegan Castle and gardens as well



On our way home we also got to take in the views of the Black Cuillins.



We took a few days off from driving to play it cool around St Andrews (read: so dad could play some golf!). But then we went out and about again to visit Glamis and Dunnottar Castles.

Glamis had lots of history involving the Queen and her family – very interesting – and we even got to take a guided tour, which is always a bonus.



Then we drove up to Dunnottar and got our first glimpse..



It was a gorgeous day, and we even spotted some puffins! Can you see them??



I will leave you with the snail.. A photo by my talented hubby



We had a great visit together and are looking forward to seeing my parents again in September when they will be meeting Baby Church! That visit will be busy and exciting as well, but in a very different way :)

If you are interested in seeing more beautiful pictures and getting more details about our trip, check out the slideshow in the sidebar on the right.. Just click the image and let the show begin!

Up next – Ian’s birthday!

He's a low rider..

tada! 30 Weeks as of yesterday :)

This is the part where I freak out a little bit because we've entered the 30's.

I think things are going to happen so fast!

We have a long way to go to be ready for baby Church - or so it seems - but we have made good progress in our accumulation of baby items. Not to mention the fact that we've only actually had to pay for one thing thus far thanks to the many babies in this community! We'll enjoy that while it lasts :)

I'm keeping well, as they say here, but I have noticed some nausea rearing it's head again which isn't so great. BUT baby gets hiccups all the time which always makes me smile, and his movements only continue to get more entertaining. Not to mention, he's getting a little territorial and making it clear when he is not happy with the position I'm in or the way my arm is resting on my belly, etc :) I can still put one foot in front of the other and walk myself wherever I want to go (I had my suspicions this might not be the case way back when because I couldn't imagine having such a big belly :) and am often reminded of how very blessed I have been in this pregnancy.

We also discovered that baby either loves or hates when Ian tucks the headphones in on either side of my belly. He goes crazy every time and, of course, since Daddy decides what he listens to, it's always Mozart :) (NOTE: I have been corrected.. It is either Mozart or Vivaldi.)

Needless to say, we continue to give thanks to the Lord and praise him for the way he has structured human procreation. It is such a gift and an amazing experience for both mom & dad.

Stay tuned... :)

Let me whet your appetite..

Stay tuned this week...

big things are coming..

Like a post and a slideshow about Mom & Dad's visit and all the BEAUTIFUL things we saw with them..

And also a new belly shot!

And you'll even get to see Ian's second home-made cookie monster cake for his birthday.. which is better than the first in my humble opinion..

And maybe.. just maybe.. but i make no promises.. I might get back into blogging regularly about interesting discoveries and musings and artwork and such like I used to :) I know you've missed it!

These are the things I am looking forward to as my work schedule gradually decreases and I have more and more days off! So.. hopefully we'll be getting a bit more exciting around here in the very near future.

I just wanted you to know.

It only took forever: A New Belly Shot!

I know.. It’s been over a month.

I have a million excuses you’re not interested in, so just accept my apologies :)

There has been lots of abundant growth on this side of the ocean as of late! Ian has to remind me that this is supposed to be happening every time I look in the mirror. I am finding that after spending my whole life being fed with ideas about what a woman should look like, it’s a little deflating to so readily pack on the pounds. But, my vanity aside, everyone is doing really well. Baby Church is kicking me all the time these days and Ian’s new favorite pastime is to watch my belly shift and move as Baby squirms. I love being pulled back to reality when I’m caught up in work or in my own thoughts by his obvious presence in there. According to our reading, he weighs about 2 pounds now, so if you want to ‘hold’ him, just grab 2 pounds of meat next time you’re at the grocery store :)

I am having all kinds of crazy dreams, most of the time about giant insects, my grandparents, random violent occurrences, or combinations of all sorts of people and events from times in my life that have never overlapped in real life. I also do a lot of thinking. I would love to write it all out and post about it, but that might never happen.. at least not until I’m done working full time!

And now… the belly!


What did I tell you? Quite a bit bigger than last time :) This is my 26 week belly. I still have a belly button at the moment, but we were both marveling today at how shallow it has gotten. You’ll also notice a rosy nose and cheeks! That’s because we’ve had lots of sunny, beautiful days leading to some pigment in my skin and even some freckles making their summer debut!

Hopefully my next post won’t be quite so far away. We are having our first visitors of the season starting a week from Monday, so we should have lots to share!

In through the nose, out through the mouth..

Ok. This is a big step for me.. We don’t have a full-length mirror, so I never see my profile. This means, any time I do see my profile I’m like, “What the…?!?” (No there are no curse words in there.. the phrase actually ends with the word ‘the’ when I say it.. I didn’t want you to worry) My belly doesn’t look quite so big when you just look down on it (my view all the live-long day), but when you see it from the side.. whoa.

So, If you look at this picture and think, “ooooooooooo man.. she is ginormous,” just don’t tell me.. mkay? I just recently became comfortable with the thought of actually needing to wear maternity clothes, so I may need a week or two to come to grips with the cause for that need to wear maternity clothes.

Ok, so here’s belly shot from somewhere between 13 and 14 weeks..


I know.. my outfit is pretty classy.

And here’s where we are now, somewhere between 20 and 21 weeks..


Just imagine I am going “Naaaa Naaaaaaaa!” (like an extended tada with ‘n’s) while you look at it because that is what I was doing. And don’t mind the crazy hair.. need I remind you I live in a very moist climate, leading to very frizzy hair? It’s like living in the rainforest without the hot.. and without the huge species of everything.. except seagulls. We have huge ones of those.

So, if this makes you take pity on me and my large self, just send me clothes that I will look cute in :)

The end.

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, BLUE Fish

It has been b-e-a-utiful here lately! We are getting to the time of year where the amount of sunlight is just perfect. Long, warmly lit (notice I never said warm) evenings and bright mornings. We’re not wading through darkness and we’re not shielding our eyes from the sun at 10pm. It’s pretty great.

Except for the seagull poo. Those things have issues.


I’ve been working away, though not as much in the evenings, which has been fabulous. I feel a lot less like a crazy person now too. They aren’t joking when they talk about pregnancy hormones and all the crazy things they do to you. AND, my eye has stopped twitching – close your eyes and say it with me... yesssssssssss!

And (drumroll please…) we had our 20 week scan today! Hooray! Everything looks very healthy and we even got to watch the baby do some acrobatics – quite the performer :) We got a picture, but Baby was pretty squirmy so it’s a little blurred. But it was AMAZING. We saw its little fingers, its little feet, its brain and watched its heart pumping away.. We saw its cute little face, and just LOVED watching it move around in there. Here’s the picture for you..


Can you tell if it’s a boy or girl?? Yeah.. we can’t either. Fortunately, the midwife stares at babies all day long and she said she was as sure as she could be that he is a he! So we’re going with that :) I told Ian I’m going to have to get a lot more mature before he’s born :)

You can see pretty clearly all the parts, and I’ll let you decide who his blurry face looks like most :) It was so cute though because when she took this picture he was totally chillin out in there, arms up by his head, both feet up resting on the opposite wall of the uterus, one of them a little higher than the other. That is a little arm and hand up there by his cheek, but sadly you can’t see the feetsies. We were both just stunned at the clarity of everything we could see.

I haven’t had a lot of time to contemplate this change that is coming, but I know time for that will come, and that the Lord is preparing both of us with each day that passes for this new adventure. We are beyond grateful for this opportunity to shepherd a child (or two or six or eighteen..) for however many years the Lord blesses us with. We certainly have had no shortage of love for our little guy thus far, and I can only imagine what that will be like when he is here on the outside with us. Praise the Lord!

I spy with my twitchy eye…

A man walking in front of me. I notice him because he is wearing bright green corduroy pants and funny shoes. He also has a big poofy brown jacket. I look at his bright green corduroy pants and wonder what it’s like to look at a pair of those in the store and think.. ‘Yeah.. Those are going to look niiiiiiiiiiiiice..’

Suddenly another man walks out of a store right next to the first man and he is wearing brown corduroy pants with a poofy green jacket.

I laugh in amazement (on the inside, of course.. that would just be rude) at the unlikelihood of this event as I watch them walk next to each other for a short while until the second man makes a turn.

And all I could think was, ‘Well. You don’t see that everyday now do you.’



In other news.. my right eye twitches ALL the time. Sometimes my left eye joins the party too, then I really start to go crazy.



In even MORE exciting news, we have a wiggling bambino! Our little baby is just a-dancin’ around in there and it’s moves are so good I can feel them! I think the baby has inherited Ian’s mad dancing skeeeeeelz..



Now. I have a question for you.

Do you want to smile a little? Do you want to maybe even giggle? Because let me tell you.. If you go here and wait for the background music to stop (it will, don’t worry.. or you can pause it if you’re that savvy) and press play, your heart will fill with joy! My nephew has some crazy skeeeeeelz! I love him :)

Sometimes Violent Action Seems Appropriate

Like when you are determined not to go an entire month without posting, so you spend several hours of your precious few free hours on Saturday (even though you really should've been working) writing not one, not two, but THREE blog posts to put up at random points during the week, getting pictures all ready and organizing everything so the rest of the world that is actually interested will know what you've been doing with yourselves for the past month.

So everything is ready, but you think 'Oh, I've wasted so much time I'll do some work and then post these...' and you just can't, I mean can't and no one knows why, bring yourself to save them. There's something in you that just needs more closure before you save them. (and now, looking back on the hesitancy, you begin to wonder about your mental health)

So you temporarily move on with your life, forcing your computer to have every application that you need open while working on a graphic-intensive magazine that it can barely handle, as well as three unsaved blog posts that you forget about.

Then. It happens.

Everything freezes.

Being your optimistic self, you think, 'Oh well, all the programs have automatic recovery.. no freaking out necessary.'

So you dutifully turn off your computer, give it a wee break, and turn it back on and begin opening the two most important programs.

And then one of those programs, Word, quits. So you try again, it quits again. Over and over. So you try a few other things and finally get it to open.. Ahhh there they are, all the blood sweat and tears I put into those three blog posts was totally worth it.

So you immediately start to save them.

And then Word quits.

And they are lost forever.

And you try not to cry.

And you consider chucking your computer out the window to wallow in its worthlessness in a puddle out on the rainy street.

Then you curse Microsoft for making such a soul crushing program as Word that just won't ever do what you want it to do anyway.

And you blow lots of other things out of proportion, lamenting your stressful life and trying to remind yourself of all the real suffering that happens every day in the rest of the world.

Your husband laments with you, but that won't bring them back. But in your unfamiliar, pregnant state.. you are defeated. And can't bring yourself to write them again. So you promise yourself and your husband that you will never, never rewrite those posts, they have taken too much from you already and you will not give them any more! (because it's important to be dramatic at times like these)

To which your husband replies, 'It's ok, I'll write them.'

And you will be overjoyed if that actually happens.

Until then, you (being the readers) will never know what went on in the last month.. Except for last Saturday. I guess you sort of know about that now.

I am 16 weeks pregnant tomorrow. My due date is August 23, but I have this feeling it's going to seriously sneak up on me. We have to move to a new flat less than three weeks before my due date. We don't know where that flat will be. I'm in denial about a lot of things (weight gain.. maternity clothes.. you know, buying, like, pacifiers and onesies and stuff.. the fact that an infant is going to live with us in a few months.. etc.). We are freaking excited and freaking out. I am experiencing lots of crazy things all the time and we are moving into our parenting roles well by worrying and trying not to worry all the time. My next scan is April 8th and it can't come soon enough! I'm ready to slap a gender on this baby and figure out some names! Oh, sometimes I'm in denial that it's even really a baby.. and that it's in me.. Does anyone else think this is just ever so slightly weird?

Ok, I've spent enough time on this post. I better quit while I'm ahead.. you know, before everything freezes and I lose my sanity..